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Born at
Gorffwysfa
,
Bethel, Caern.
,
14 Feb. 1881
, son of
John
and
Jane ElisabethGriffith
. He was educated at
Bethel elementary school
and
Caernarfon County School
, where he was one of the first entrants when the school was opened in
1894
. He entered
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, in
1899
, and read English Literature. In
1904
he was appointed
Assistant Master
at
Beaumaris Grammar School
, and in
1906Lecturer in Celtic
under
ThomasPowel
at
University College
,
Cardiff
. The years
1915-18
he spent as an
officer in the navy
, and on being demobilised he was appointed
Professor
to succeed
Powel
, who had retired in
1918
. He remained in the chair until his retirement in
1946
. In
1943
he successfully contested the
University of Wales
seat in
Parliament
as a
Liberal
, in spite of having been a prominent member of the
Welsh Nationalist Party
(as it was then called), defeating
SaundersLewis
, the
Nationalist Party candidate
. He retained the seat until
1950
, when university seats were abolished.

Gruffydd
's main field of interest as a
scholar
was the
Four Branches of the Mabinogi
. As early as
1914
he published a substantial article in the
Transactions of the Cymmrodorion
under the title ‘
The Mabinogion
’. His major contribution,
Math vab Mathonwy
, a discussion of the fourth branch, appeared in
1928
, to be followed after a long interval by
Rhiannon
in
1953
, in which the first and the third branches were investigated. The aim was to unravel the various strands that had formed the tales and discover how they were linked together.

Another aspect of
Gruffydd
's scholarship was his study of the history of
Welsh
literature. His first book was
Llenyddiaeth Cymru o 1450 hyd 1600
(
1922
), which, in spite of its title, dealt with the strict metre poetry only. Next came
Llenyddiaeth Cymru, Rhyddiaith o 1540 hyd 1660
(
1926
). Though ‘a series of volumes on Welsh Literature’ was promised, only these two appeared. They were very useful in schools and colleges. In
1929Gruffydd
edited a reprint of
Perl mewn Adfyd
by
HuwLewys
(
1595
), and a bilingual booklet on
Dafydd ap Gwilym
appeared in
1935
. He published four anthologies of poetry. The first was
Cywyddau Goronwy Owen
(
1907
).
Y Flodeugerdd Newydd
(
1909
) was a selection of
cywyddau
of the poets of the gentry, meant as a textbook for students rather than a meticulous work of scholarship.
Blodeuglwm o Englynion
(
1920
) included, in addition to the
englynion
, an introduction explaining a theory of
JohnRhŷs
that the
englyn
was an adaptation in
Welsh
of the
Latin
elegiac couplet (a theory refuted by
J.Morris-Jones
in his
Cerdd Dafod
). In
1931Y Flodeugerdd Gymraeg
appeared, an anthology of poetry in the free metres of the
period between the seventeenth and the twentieth centuries, with an introduction which is interesting for the light it throws on the principles of literary criticism adopted by the
editor
. Two lectures were published in pamphlet form —
Ceiriog
(
1939
) and
Islwyn
(
1942
).

Gruffydd
was better known to his fellow-countrymen as a
poet
than as a
scholar
. He competed unsuccessfully for the crown at the
national
eisteddfod
at
Bangor
in
1902
with a poem on the subject ‘
Trystan ac Esyllt
’, but was awarded the prize at the
London
eisteddfod
of
1909
for his poem on ‘
Yr Arglwydd Rhys
’. Love lyrics by him appeared in the periodical
Cymru
in
1900
, and in the same year he and his friend
R. SilynRoberts
published a collection of their poems under the title
Telynegion: Caneuon a Cherddi
,
Gruffydd
's own poems, followed in
1906
. In
1923Ynys yr Hud a chaneuon eraill
appeared, containing poems written
between 1900 and 1922
. A selection of the poems which the
author
wished to preserve entitled
Caniadau
was published by the
Gregynog Press
in
1932
.
Gruffydd
's poetry varies greatly in style and quality. The early works are often luscious, with echoes of
Heine
(and some translations) and of the
English
Romantic poets. There are also early examples, as in ‘
Cerdd yr Hen Chwarelwr
’, of his unaffected style. There are instances of steriotyped social comment, as in ‘
Y Pharisead
’ and ‘
Sionyn
’. Later
Gruffydd
developed a more direct idiom and a more truly criticial attitude, as in ‘
Gwladys Rhys
’ and ‘
Thomas Morgan
’. It is somewhat surprising that in his final selection for the
Gregynog
volume in
1932
he included examples both of cloying nostalgia and bitter onslaughts. His best poems are a valuable contribution to
Welsh
poetry, and the long poem ‘
Ynys yr Hud
’ is one of the outstanding products of the twentieth-century revival.

Gruffydd
's prose is of a very high order. His style shows none of the striving after effect and the pedantic expressions found in the works of some writers of his period. His best work is
Hen Atgofion
, first published as articles in
Y Llenor
between
1930
and
1935
, and in book form in
1936
. Four additional chapters, but unfortunately no more, appeared in
Y Llenor
between
1936
and
1941
. These reminiscences reflect the author's own personality, the men and women of his native parish and the
Welsh
people at a crucial time in their history, all conveyed with humour and keen discernment. In
Owen Morgan Edwards: Cofiant
(
1937
)
Gruffydd
found a subject and a time and place with which he was in full sympathy, and the work equals
Hen Atgofion
as an achievement.

Y Llenor
was first published in
1922
as a quarterly with
Gruffydd
as
editor
, a role which he performed with distinction until
1945
when
T.J.Morgan
became
co-editor
until the periodical ceased publication in
1951
. All the chief writers of
Wales
in a rich and productive period in the history of
Welsh
literature contributed. The
editor
himself was a frequent contributor of articles on literary criticism and of satirical commentaries on aspects of
Welsh
life. In
1926
he started his ‘
Editor's Notes
’, in which he expressed his views on all those topics which worried him and justified his description of himself as
Wales
's
enfant terrible
. Among the subjects discussed were the preservation of the
Welsh
language, religion, the Anglicisation of some classes
in Welsh society, corruption in public life, political protest, broadcasting, education at all levels, and in particular the
National
Eisteddfod
. He continually accused the local committees of the
Eisteddfod
of mismanagement, and criticised the prominence given to people who were out of sympathy with Welsh aspirations, and the growing use of
English
from the platform. When the reform of the
Eisteddfod
was taken in hand in
1935
and the Court and the Council established,
Gruffydd
played a prominent part in the discussions, and henceforth he was closely associated with the
Eisteddfod
, not only as
adjudicator
(of the crown poem usually) but also as a member of the
Council
and as
President of the Court
from
1945
until his death.

Gruffydd
wrote three plays-
Beddau'r Proffwydi
, first performed by members of
University College
,
Cardiff
, in
1913
,
Dyrchafiad arall i Gymro
(
1914
) and
Dros y Dŵr
(
1928
). His translation of
Sophocles
's
Antigone
was published in
1950
. A full bibliography appears in the
Journal of the Welsh Bibliographical Society
, viii, 208-219, ix, 53-4.

He was awarded
doctorates
honoris causa
by the
University of Rennes
(
1946
) and the
University of Wales
(
1947
), and the
medal
of the
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion
(
1946
). His influence on several aspects of
Welsh
life was great, although his opinions were often the subject of controversy and disagreement, because they were sometimes forcibly expressed and were always the product of an independent mind, which was at times inconsistent. But he was remarkably consistent in his opposition to injustice and dishonesty, which accounts to some extent for the deep respect and affection in which he was held by his friends, and indeed by all who knew him.

He m.
Gwenda
, daughter of
JohnEvans
,
minister
, of
Abercarn
, in
1909
. They had separated several years before his death. They had one son.
Gruffydd
d.
29 Sept. 1954
.